The Orfalea Foundation-School Food Initiative

About Us

Since 2007 the Orfalea Foundation’s School Food Initiative (SFI) has empowered the public school districts of Santa Barbara County to implement and sustain nourishing cooked-from-scratch food service operations. In SFI’s vision of success, 80% of the public schools in Santa Barbara County integrate the mission and vision of SFI into their campus culture. Through a combined approach that includes educational programs for students, culinary training for food service workers, staff training, grants for equipment and infrastructure remodeling, SFI works with individual school districts to implement cook-from-scratch meal preparation, raise awareness of the environmental implications of our food choices, and foster a new generation of food literate students and their parents/caregivers.